We all love stories: MEDIA celebrates 25 years at Cannes

This year’s Cannes Film Festival celebrated the 25th anniversary of MEDIA and the best of European cinema with industry events including a European Film Forum conference on 'Financing European works in the digital age'. The line-up included a public workshop co-hosted with the European Film Agency Directors group entitled 'How to foster online distribution of European works across the EU'. A showcase of MEDIA-funded projects ran alongside the festival’s film programme, which this year featured 23 Creative Europe-backed titles including nine in the official competition.

Since it was launched in 1991, the European Union’s MEDIA programme has invested over €2.4 billion in European creativity and cultural diversity, and continues to do so in its new guise as Creative Europe.

Günther Oettinger, Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society, said: “The MEDIA programme has become a quality label for European films. I am proud to see that almost half of the films in competition for the Palme d'Or this year have been supported by MEDIA. It is also constantly adapting to the needs of the sector. In June, we will launch a €121 million guarantee facility for the cultural and creative sectors, expected to generate more than €600 million worth of bank loans.”